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The Ladies Who Served: Kateryn Parr

Kateryn Parr was the sixth and final wife of Henry VIII. They were married from 1543 until the King’s death in 1547 – nearly the same amount of time that Henry was married to Anne Boleyn.

Here is a list of the majority of ladies who served, Kateryn Parr – This list could not be shared with you without the amazing research by Kate Emerson of “A Who’s Who of Tudor Women”. Her research has allowed me to compile the below list into one post to share with you. Please take the time to check out her site: A Who’s Who of Tudor Women.

Great Ladies of the Household those Women Closest to the Queen:

Mary Arundell, Countess of Sussex

Mary was the daughter of Sir John Arundell and his second wife, Catherine Grenville.

Mary Arundell was a maid of honor to Queen Jane Seymour before she married Robert Radcliffe, Earl of Sussex on January 14, 1537 – she was his third wife.

Mary remained at court as one of Queen Jane’s ladies after her marriage until the queen’s death and returned as one of the Great Ladies of the Household to Anne of Cleves and Catherine Howard.

Mary had two sons by the Earl of Sussex, Henry (the king’s godson) and John. After the death of her husband she married Henry Fitzalan, Earl of Arundel on the 19th of December 1545, as his second wife.

Mary Arundell

Anne Calthorpe, Countess of Sussex

Anne Calthorpe was the daughter of Sir Philip Calthorpe and Jane Blennerhassett.

She married Henry Radcliffe, 2nd Earl of Sussex, she was his second wife and they were married prior to 21 November 1538.

Anne was the mother of Egremont, Maud, and Frances Radcliffe.

Anne was at court when Kateryn Parr was queen and shared her Protestant beliefs. She was among a group of ladies at Tudor court that were implicated in the heresy of Anne Askew.

No available portrait.

Joan Champernowne, Lady Denny

Joan Champernowne was the daughter of Sir Philip Champernowne and Catherine Carew. J

oan came to court as a maid of honor to Katherine of Aragon and remained at court during the tenures of Henry VIII’s next five wives.

While Kateryn Parr was queen, Joan was accused of sending 8s. to Anne Askew but nothing was proven against her. In 1547, she retired to Cheshunt but her service to the Crown was not yet over. In May 1548, Princess Elizabeth and her household were sent to stay there with the Dennys and remained until autumn. Some accounts say Elizabeth’s governess, Katherine Champernowne Astley, was Joan’s younger sister. Others believe they were only distantly related.

No available portrait.

Lady Margaret Douglas

Margaret Douglas was the daughter of Margaret Tudor (sister to Henry VIII) by her second husband, Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus. Margaret was half sister of James V of Scotland and granddaughter of Henry VII of England.

Margaret was born at Harbottle castle in England because her mother, Margaret Tudor was fleeing from Scotland, seeking shelter with her brother, Henry VIII.

When she was barely fifteen, she was appointed chief lady in waiting to her cousin, Princess Mary. Only three years later, she was at court as one of Anne Boleyn’s ladies.

Margaret Douglas was in and out of trouble all her life. She formed two unacceptable romantic alliances with English suitors and was confined for a time after each incident. She may actually have married Thomas Howard (1512-October 29, 1537), one of the Duke of Norfolk’s half-brothers. Thomas died in the Tower of London, where he had been imprisoned for his liaison with Margaret. Margaret remained close to Thomas Howard’s niece, Mary Howard, duchess of Richmond, who had been married to Henry FitzRoy.²

On the 6th of July 1544, Margaret married Matthew Stuart, Earl of Lennox. The couple had two sons who survived to adulthood, Henry, Lord Darnley and Charles, Earl of Lennox.

Shortly before the death of Henry VIII, Margaret argued with the king over a matter of religion (she remained a devout Catholic all her life) and was disinherited.

Margaret was high in favor under Queen Mary, but under Queen Elizabeth she was under arrest on three separate occasions, once on suspicion of witchcraft and treason, once because her son, Lord Darnley, had married the queen of Scots, and once because she conspired to marry her other son, Charles, to Elizabeth Cavendish.²

Margaret Douglas

Jane Guildford, Lady Dudley

Jane Guildford was the daughter of Sir Edward Guildford and Eleanor West.

In late 1525 or early 1526, she married her father’s ward, John Dudley. They had thirteen children: Henry, Thomas, John, Ambrose, a second Henry, Mary, Robert, Guildford, Katherine, and four others—Charles, Margaret, Frances, and Temperance—who died under the age of ten.

Jane was successively Lady Dudley, Viscountess Lisle, Countess of Warwick, and Duchess of Northumberland. Although she did not take an active role in her husband’s political career, she was at court as a lady of the Privy Chamber to Anne of Cleves and Katherine Parr and during the reign of Edward VI.

After the failure of Northumberland’s attempt to place Lady Jane Grey on the throne of England in place of Mary Tudor and Northumberland’s execution, Jane went to live with her daughter, Mary Sidney, at Penshurst, Kent, until Queen Mary granted her the use of her Chelsea dower house.²

Jane’s son Guildford (husband of Lady Jane Grey), was executed in 1554 while her other sons remained prisoners in the Tower. On the 2nd of May 1554 she herself was pardoned.

That summer Jane was at court a lot to petition the release her sons. The eldest, John, was released from the Tower in early October 1554. Ambrose, Robert, and Henry were released by early 1555, before their mother’s death at Chelsea.

Jane Dudley

Anne Stanhope, Lady Hertford

Anne Stanhope was the daughter of Sir Edward Stanhope and Elizabeth Bourchier.

Elizabeth Bourchier, her mother, was sister of the Earl of Bath and was also a descendant of King Edward III.

Anne Stanhope was the only child of Sir Edward Stanhope and Elizabeth Bourchier and was born in 1510. Unfortunately, when she was about one year old her father died. There is little evidence that remains about Anne’s childhood – it is, however, believed that she was a maid-of-honour to Katherine of Aragon.

Her mother did eventually marry again, this time to Sir Richard Paget, who was also well-connected to King Henry VIII. Paget was a gentleman of the Privy Chamber for King Henry and also Vice-Chamberlain in the household of Henry Fitzroy.

Depending on who you read the following information varies regarding the marriage of Edward Seymour to his second wife, Anne Stanhope.

David Loades says they married on the 9th of March 1535, while Antonia Fraser says it was sometime in 1534 before Katherine Fillol’s death and Margaret Scard says by the 9th of March 1535. So we don’t know for certain if it was before or after the death of her first wife. We can assume from the three authors that they were definitely married by the 9th of March 1535.

Anne managed to stay on good terms with both Princess Mary and Queen Katherine Parr but her religious leanings were Protestant. She sent aid to Anne Askew in 1545.

Her husband, Edward, Duke of Somerset was arrested for a second time on the 16th of October 1551, accused of plotting against John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland. This time he was executed. Anne was also arrested and remained a prisoner in the Tower of London until 30th of May 1553, even though she was never charged with any crime.

Under Mary Tudor, three of Anne’s daughters were at court. Her oldest son, Edward, was restored in blood. Anne was granted a number of Northumberland’s confiscated properties and Hanworth, Middlesex, where she chose to live. It was at Hanworth that a romance secretly blossomed between Anne’s son Edward and Lady Catherine Grey, younger sister of Lady Jane Grey. When the young couple eloped in 1560 and were subsequently confined in the Tower of London, Anne was careful to distance herself from them. The next year, Anne married Francis Newdigate (October 25, 1519-January 26,1581/2), who had been Somerset’s steward. When her son was released from the Tower, Anne was given custody of him and also of the older of the two sons he had with Lady Catherine Grey. Anne tried to advance Lady Catherine’s claim to the throne by backing John Hales’s Discourse on the Succession but met with little success. Although she was rarely at Elizabeth’s court, on one visit she had with her nineteen servants, including a chaplain and seven stable lads.

Anne Stanhope, Duchess of Somerset

Catherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk

Catherine Willoughby was the daughter of William Willoughby, 10th Baron Willoughby d’Eresby and Maria de Salinas.

When Catherine’s father died she became the ward of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk and was raised with his children of his previous wife, Mary Tudor, dowager queen of France.

The original plan was that Catherine was to marry Suffolk’s son, Henry, but after Mary Tudor died in 1533, Suffolk married Catherine himself on 7 September 1534. When they married Catherine was 14 and Suffolk was 49.

The couple had two sons, Henry and Charles.

Catherine spent a lot of time at court during the reign of Henry VIII and Kateryn Parr.

In 1548, when Kateryn Parr died after giving birth to her daughter Mary, the child was placed in Catherine’s care.

Catherine lost both of her sons to an epidemic of “the sweat” in 1551, when they died within hours of each other. In 1553, Catherine took as her second husband the man who had been her first husband’s steward (some sources say gentleman usher). Richard Bertie (December 25,1517-April 9,1582) shared Catherine’s religious views. In 1554, their daughter Susan (d.1596+) was born. By that time Mary Tudor was queen and had restored Catholicism to England. Richard Bertie went into exile first and on New Year’s Day 1555, Catherine and Susan followed him. A son named Peregrine (October 12,1555-June 25,1601) was born during their travels abroad. They ended up in Poland, where King Sigismund offered them the governorship of Lithuania. They remained there until after Mary Tudor’s death, returning to England in the late spring of 1559. Under Elizabeth Tudor, the Berties were not significant figures at court, but Catherine was entrusted with the keeping of Lady Mary Grey for a time after that young lady’s elopement. Mary was in her step-grandmother’s household from August 7, 1567 until June 1569.

Catherine Willoughby

Gentlewomen of the Privy Chamber and Bedchamber

Elizabeth Oxenbridge, Lady Tyrwhitt

Elizabeth Oxenbridge was the daughter of Goddard Oxenbridge and his second wife, Anne Fiennes.

Elizabeth was at Tudor court in the household of Jane Seymour in 1537, then after the queen’s death she resided with Mary Arundell, Countess of Sussex.

When Katheryn Howard became queen, Elizabeth was a gentlewoman of the privy chamber and during Anne Parr Herbert’s absence from court to have a child, temporarily took over her duties as keeper of the queen’s jewels. She was also a lady of the privy chamber to Kateryn Parr and shared the queen’s views on religion.

It is probably at this time that her book of prayers was written. Her husband was Kathryn’s master of horse. Both she and her husband remained with the queen dowager after Henry VIII’s death and Elizabeth, in testimony before the Privy Council, gave an eyewitness account of the queen dowager’s death on September 5, 1548. Elizabeth’s dislike of Kathryn Parr’s new husband, Lord Admiral Thomas Seymour, comes through clearly in this report. A short time later, Sir Robert and Lady Tyrwhitt were put in charge of Princess Elizabeth at Hatfield, following the removal of the princess’s longtime governess, Kat Astley, on suspicion of plotting to marry her young charge to the widowed Lord Admiral. Upon Lady Tyrwhitt’s arrival, the princess locked herself in her room and declared that she did not need a governess. Sir Robert was of the opinion that she needed two and Lady Tyrwhitt stayed on even after Kat Astley’s return to the household.

No available portrait.

Maud Parr, Lady Lane

Maud Parr was the daughter of William Parr, Baron Parr and Mary Salisbury.

She married Sir Ralph Lane in 1523, although they did not live together as man and wife until 1527. The couple had three sons and seven daughters, including Laetitia, Robert, Ralph, Frances, Mary, Jane, Dorothy, Katherine, and William.

In 1543, she entered the service of her cousin, Queen Katherine Parr. She shared evangelical religious views with several other of the queen’s ladies and was at one point in danger of arrest. In the past, several historians misread Lady Lane as Lady Jane and thought that Lady Jane Grey was part of Katherine Parr’s protestant circle when she was queen, but Lady Jane would have been too young at that time. Maud Lane survived Henry VIII’s reign and retired to Horton until her death in 1558 or 1559.

No available portrait.

Mary Wotton, Lady Carew

Mary Wotton was the daughter of Sir Robert Wotton and Anne Belknap.

It is possible that Mary was the Mistress Wotton who was a chamberer to Mary Tudor, queen of France, in 1513.

She married first, Sir Henry Guildford. Her second husband was Sir Gavin Carew and they married in July 1540.

Mary was at court in 1543 as one of Queen Kateryn Parr’s ladies.

Mary Wotton

Chamberers:

Dorothy Fountain

Not a great deal is known about Dorothy Fountain. She has been identified by Susan James in Catherine Parr as nurse first to Margaret Neville, daughter of Lord Latimer and the queen’s stepdaughter, and later as nurse to Edward Herbert, Anne Parr’s son, when he lived at Chelsea Manor in 1547. From 1543 until Margaret Neville’s death in 1546, Dorothy was at court as Margaret’s servant. In 1547, she was listed as one of the queen’s chamberers. She married William Savage, another of the queen’s household, at around that time but they both disappear from the records after the death of the queen dowager in 1548.

No portrait available.

Mary Woodhull

Mary Woodhull (often written Odell) was the daughter of Nicholas Woodhull and Elizabeth (or Alice) Parr.

Her grandfather was Lord Parr of Horton, making her a cousin to Queen Katherine Parr, Horton’s niece. She came to court as a chamberer in 1543 when she was about fifteen and had been promoted to gentlewoman of the queen’s chamber at a salary of five shillings by 1547.

Mary remained with Kateryn Parr after Henry VIII’s death. It was noted that sometimes she shared a bed with Parr for warmth.

In June 1550, Mary married David Seymour, a distant relation of Lord Protector Edward Seymour, duke of Somerset, who had also been in Queen Katherine’s household. They had three children, William, Edward, and Anne.

No portrait available.

Maids of Honor:

The list of maids of honor is vague at best – Anne Bassett, Dorothy Bray, a daughter of Sir Anthony Browne’s, a Carew girl, a Guildford girl, a relative of Dr. Robert Huicke and a Windsor girl.

Mother of Maids:

Margaret (or Anne) Foliot, Mrs. Stonor

Paintrix:

Lavina Bening, Mrs.Teerlinc

The eldest of five daughters of Simon Bening, an illuminator, and Katlijne Scroo, Lavina was born in Bruges.

Between 1540 and 1542, she married George Teerlinc. It was as LavinaTeerlinc that she became well known as a limner and miniature painter.

She and her husband arrived in England in early 1545 and she was sworn into the queen’s Privy Chamber. The following year, her husband became one of the king’s Gentlemen Pensioners and Lavina became one of the king’s artists at £40 per annum.

Under Queen Mary I, Lavina continued to receive the £40 annuity as a “paintrix” but this salary was not paid.

Lavina continued to be a court painter under Queen Elizabeth I and in 1562 presented the queen with “the Queen’s personne and other personages, in a box finely painted” as a New Year’s gift.

Once again this list could not be shared with you without the amazing research by Kate Emerson of “A Who’s Who of Tudor Women”. Her research has allowed me to compile the below list into one post to share with you. Please take the time to check out her site: A Who’s Who of Tudor Women.

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One Comment

Great article
Have done guest posts myself previously
The Manipulation of Catherine Howard
Margaret Scrope(wife to William Kingston)
Who was really responsible for the death of Anne Boleyn
Hoping to get round to writing one about Thomas More and also Jane Rochford at some point
All my articles had different links but the one about the manipulation of Catherine Howard has been frequently retweeted but think my one about Mrs Kingston was better as I wrote it as though I was her !!!!
Catherine